##  [Relevance Theory](/index.php/relevance-theory) 

  ##  [Relevance Theory](https://humanitites.quantumdictionary.io/relevance-theory-0) 

  

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**Humanities & Arts Dictionary**

 







 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Definition

A pragmatics framework modelling utterance interpretation as an inferential process: hearers assume a speaker’s ostensive act aims to achieve optimal relevance, defined as the greatest contextual cognitive effect for the least processing effort; interpretation proceeds by deriving contextual assumptions that maximize this relevance balance.